5.02pm: European stock index futures are down, with shares set to surrender a big chunk of Friday's gains as the initial enthusiasm sparked by the drop in the US unemployment rate fades while worries about earnings and the global economy resurface.

Futures for Euro STOXX 50, for Germany's DAX and for France's CAC are down 0.5-0.8 per cent.

European Union finance ministers meet tomorrow in Luxembourg and will consider how to best supervise Europe’s banks, among other issues.

4.46pm: Here's how some blue chips fared:

BHP: -0.2%

Rio: flat

ANZ: +0.1%

CBA: -0.5%

NAB: -0.4%

Westpac: -0.1%

Fortescue: +2.8%

Woolies: +0.4%

Wesfarmers: flat

Telstra: flat

Newcrest: -3.2%

4.43pm: Sorry for the delay - having some technical issues here.

Among the major sectors, materials lost 0.5 per cent, financials were down 0.4 per cent and energy stocks shed 0.6 per cent. Gold stocks plunged 2.9 per cent.

4.14pm: The sharemarket has closed lower, ending a seven-day winning streak. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index fell 12.5 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 4481.9, while the broader All Ords lost 11.8 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 4502.

4.07pm: The oil market has taken the re-election of Hugo Chavez as President of Venezuela in its stride - WTI crude oil is trading 0.7 per cent lower at $US89.29, close to the day's low, and not far below the price it was trading at before Chavez's victory was confirmed.

3.58pm: Former Treasury secretary Ken Henry says a high Aussie dollar is not all bad news for Australian business.

Dr Henry says Australia will possibly have to live with a structurally stronger currency, much in the same way Japan did in the 1980s and 1990s.

He noted that in the decade to 1995, when the yen rose by about 70 per cent against the US dollar, Japanese firms started producing labour intensive goods offshore due to the high costs of making them at home.

Australian firms could use the experience of the Japanese in dealing with the situation to cope with the current high level of the Australian dollar, he said.

‘‘These regional supply chains have influenced the pattern of trade in the region and across the globe, benefitting people everywhere,’’ Dr Henry told the Australia-Japan joint business conference in Sydney on Monday.

3.43pm: Market momentum on the ASX200 appears to have paused for breath as traders search for new sentiment drivers to take the local market beyond the 4500 level, CMC Markets senior trader Tim Waterer says:

The downward reaction of commodity prices to the US employment report on Friday was always going to put the Australian market’s winning streak in jeopardy, with the materials and energy sectors commencing the week in negative territory.

Given the strong finish to last week the question was always going to be whether that momentum could be carried forward into this week, and once US equities eased in the final hour on Friday it was always going to be touch and go as to whether we could chalk up another day of gains.

3.26pm: Here's an interesting read from BusinessDay's Adele Ferguson:

The federal government is understood to have received the final report from the Productivity Commission into one of the most important issues facing the superannuation industry: how funds are selected as default funds.

It is a high-stakes issue involving transparency, conflicts of interest and competition in the $1.3 trillion industry.

The report is believed to have been given to the Minister for Financial Services, Bill Shorten, on Saturday. He is obligated to release it to Parliament within 25 sitting days. Given that there are 20 sitting days left, he can release it publicly this year or delay it until 2013.

Retail and industry funds believe it will be released this year but that depends on its findings. In normal circumstances, a final report rarely diverges far from the draft recommendations – but this is far from normal.

‘‘It is very important that the Reserve Bank does not say or do anything which would improperly impinge on any legal process, most particularly not in a public forum,’’ Stevens told a parliamentary panel in Canberra today. ‘‘There are accordingly documents which, I am advised, we should not table at this time.’’

Eight former managers and employees at the central bank’s Note Printing Australia unit and Securency International face charges in relation to the bribing of officials in Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam from 1999 to 2004 to win bank-note printing contracts.

It was the first time Stevens was called to testify to parliament solely about the case. The RBA governor said that while he believed officials who reported to him acted appropriately, there should have been more questioning and ‘‘scepticism’’ of both companies.

2.42pm: Some more on Echo: there's some big buying in the stock today, with volume already topping 11 million shares, about double the usual daily average. A line of 6.5 million shares went through at 2pm, at $3.98 per share.

Around midday a 2.1 million chunk of Echo changed hands at $3.975 a share. The stock is currently down 2 cents at $3.96.

There has been talk that Genting Hong Kong is trying to increase it share through onmarket purchases. The company was also mooted to have been behind a botched share raid for an additional 5 per cent in the casinos operator.

Genting HK recently applied for permission to increase its stake from 4.2 per cent to 25 per cent.

2.28pm: Japan's Toyota, Nissan and Honda plan to slash production in China by roughly half, the Nikkei newspaper reports, as a territorial row between Asia's two largest economies cuts sales of Japanese cars in the world's biggest market.

Sales have plunged at Japanese car makers since violent protests and calls for boycotts of Japanese products broke out across China in mid-September over the Japanese government's purchase of a group of disputed islands in the East China Sea from their private owner.

Nissan will suspend the night shift at its passenger car factories in China and operate only during the day, the business daily says. Nissan has two passenger car factories in China, in Huadu and Zhengzhou, with two lines each. A Nissan spokesman declined to confirm the report.

Toyota and Honda plan to cut China production to about half normal levels by shortening working hours and slowing down the speed of production lines, the Nikkei says without citing a source.

2.20pm: The federal opposition supports the government’s bid to boost diplomatic ties with China but questions whether it was wise for Foreign Minister Bob Carr to make it public.

Senator Carr revealed that top Australian officials had visited China to push for more regular formal meetings between Canberra and Beijing. Such an arrangement would be similar to those Australia already has in place with countries like the US, but Beijing is yet to respond to the proposal.

His opposition counterpart, Julie Bishop, welcomed the moves, saying the government had effectively adopted the coalition’s policy.‘‘Indeed, I have been urging the government for some time to broaden, deepen and diversify our relationship with China,’’ Ms Bishop told ABC television on Monday. But she questions Senator Carr’s decision to make the ongoing negotiations public, suggesting it could be another example of his ‘‘unorthodox’’ approach to his job.

2.13pm: Public sector workers have voted to step up industrial action against the NSW government, after thousands walked off the job to protest against plans to cut working conditions.

The Public Service Association has voted for further political and industrial action during mass meetings at more than 40 locations across NSW. Around 3000 PSA members, including prison officers, school support staff and park rangers bedecked in the union’s red and white colours, descended on Sydney’s Town Hall to voice their opposition to plans to restructure the public sector.

More than half of those at the Town Hall watched proceedings on a big screen outside, the union estimated. After addresses by PSA members and officials, the union membership unanimously endorsed a resolution which included calls for Premier Barry O’Farrell’s government to scrap its planned 2.5 per cent wage cap and job cuts.

2.07pm: Macquarie Group has sold its biggest asset-backed bond issue in a year as investor demand surges for debt tied to cars, medical equipment and loans to doctors and accountants, Bloomberg reports.

Macquarie’s leasing unit priced $750 million of bonds backed by auto payments last week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. National Australia Bank’s Medfin unit sold last month its first notes since 2004, driving September offerings in Australia to a 10-month high of $783 million, the data shows. It paid a yield premium that was 15 basis points higher than ING Bank Australia did on a sale of bonds backed by home loans last month, even though investors are expected to be repaid more than a year earlier.

Investor appetite is growing for asset-backed debt after corporate yields dropped to record lows and premiums offered by residential mortgage-backed securities shrank. The asset-backed notes, typically graded AAA, have kept their creditworthiness even as Australia’s non-mining industries slowed, and will remain stable in 2012, according to Standard & Poor’s.

1.57pm: Here's an update on Aquila Resources... the company's shares have lost one per cent after revealing capital and operating costs for its West Pilbara Iron project have blown out to $7.4 billion.

The minerals explorer, which also focuses on coal and manganese, said the increase was primarily due to additional costs to comply with the WA government’s Anketell Port Master plan and owners costs.

The shares are three cents, or 1.1 per cent, lower at $2.65.

1.45pm: Crude prices have slipped amid caution over Europe hours ahead of the formal launch of a 500-billion-euro rescue fund for the embattled eurozone, analysts say.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, has shed 47 cents to $US89.41 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for November delivery has fallen 58 cents to $US111.44.

"It really is continued concerns about the global economy and the issue over Europe continues to be a bearish factor on oil markets," Victor Shum, senior principal of Purvin and Gertz energy consultants in Singapore, has told AFP.

1.36pm: The World Bank says Asia’s growth is slowing more sharply than expected due to weak global demand and warned China faces the risk of a ‘‘more pronounced slowdown’’ than expected.

The bank cut its growth outlook for Asia on Monday to 7.2 per cent this year, down from its May forecast of 7.6 per cent.

It cut its outlook for China, the region’s biggest economy, to 7.7 per cent from May’s 8.2 per cent. The bank said demand in key export markets has been hurt by the lacklustre US recovery and recession in Europe.

The bank said China faces the risk of a ‘‘more pronounced slowdown’’ than expected. Chinese growth has slowed largely due to government efforts to cool an overheated economy and inflation but also has been hurt by weak global demand.

1.28pm: Gold stocks are down sharply today. They're down 2.6 per cent, well ahead of info tech stocs which are the next worst performed with a loss of 1.4 per cent.

Spot gold fell as much as 0.6 per cent to $US1770.55 today an ounce after the US unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to 7.8 per cent from 8.1 per cent during September, easing pressure on the Federal Reserve to expand monetary stimulus that underpinned the bullion’s rally last month.

1.23pm: Looking more closely at Billabong, investors have continued to abandon the stock after doubts arose last week about the private equity bid for the surfwear retailer. As noted below, the company's shares have lost another 5.19 per cent today, taking the year-to-date loss to 40 cents or 28.5 per cent. It traded as high as $3.58 in mid-November last year.

1.19pm: Telstra has avoided a fine for breaching privacy rules in 2011. Instead, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) ordered Telstra to comply with the new Telecommunications Consumer Protection Code’s privacy clause.

In June, ACMA found Telstra failed to protect the personal details of 734,000 customers, whose addresses, drivers licence numbers and dates of birth were publicly accessible between March and December 2011.

The information was accessible via a web-based customer management tool and made accessible via a link available on the internet, ACMA said.

1.14pm: As the ASX200 slips further into the red (now down 0.32 per cent), here are the companies leading the charge lower:

Intrepid Mines: -6.45%

Billabong: -5.19%

Bank of Queensland: -4.9%

St Barbara: -4.85%

Resolute Mining: -3.94%

Newcrest: -2.99%

Saracen Mining: -2.73%

1.09pm: Looking at today's ANZ jobs data, CommSec's Craig James says "simply, businesses currently aren’t in the mood to take on more staff".

Clearly the jitters about the European debt crisis have taken their toll together with uninformed media stories about the presumed end of the mining boom. In this sort of environment many businesses have chosen to work on getting as much as they can out of existing staff, rather than take on new workers.

All things being equal, the drop in job ads suggests that the Reserve Bank is more likely to cut rates again in November. But all things aren’t equal. Home prices are rising, up 3 per cent since May. And the US economy continues to brighten. Clearly a lot more water needs to flow under the bridge before the next Reserve Bank Board meeting.

1.03pm: The ASX might be sliding, but Options Xpress market analyst Ben Le Brun said there was a lack of conviction in the local market amid thin volumes.

"But it’s showing a lot of resilience," Mr Le Brun said. "Investors are unwilling to short the market."

12.56pm: While the dollar has arrested its slide for the time being, local stocks are hitting fresh intraday lows. Both the All Ords and the ASX200 are now 0.3 per cent lower.

12.51pm: The Aussie dollar is fighting back from a big slide early today. The currency was trading at $US1.0167, down from $US1.0251. Earlier today, the currency hit a three-month low of $US1.0152, which were a negative for the Aussie because they increased the likelihood the US Federal Reserve would abandon its latest round of quantitative easing.

‘‘People are now starting to think, what will make the Fed turn off the taps?’’ he said.

‘‘As US unemployment gets back towards seven per cent you expect to see some of the steam come out of the Aussie.’’

Mr Dooley said it was likely the Australian dollar would continue to move lower during the week, with the release of official Australian jobs figures on Thursday the main driver for the currency.

12.37pm: No-one was injured when a small earthquake caused a rock fall at one of BHP Billiton’s underground nickel mines in Western Australia’s Goldfields.

All staff were safely evacuated despite a power outage, the mining company said.Geoscience Australia reported a magnitude 3.0 earthquake near Leinster at 11.20pm (WST) on Sunday.

12.33pm: Former deputy Reserve Bank governor Ric Battellino denies he warned a whistleblower who exposed corruption at the bank’s subsidiary, Note Printing Australia, to never speak about its alleged bribery problems with overseas agents.

Mr Battellino is attending a special hearing of federal parliament’s economics committee in Canberra today along with RBA governor Glenn Stevens and assistant governor Frank Campbell to answer questions about their handling of the bribery scandal at NPA and sister-firm Securency.

NPA’s former company secretary Brian Hood last week told another parliamentary committee that Mr Battellino had warned him to keep quiet at his September 2008 farewell lunch after he was forced out of the company.

12.25pm: And one more thing from ANZ on the weak job ads number: the bank reckons the data highlights need for further downward moves in official interest rates:

"With job advertisements signalling a further easing in labour market conditions, the RBA will need to ease monetary policy further. ANZ expects a further 25bps rate cut by the RBA at the November board meeting," says ANZ economist Ivan Colhoun.

12.10pm: So much for an extension of that impressive winning streak of seven straight sessions - the ASX200 has just hit the day's lows, down 0.2 per cent.

"I think it's a consequence of the fact that we've had quite a large run-up now," says Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

"I think we've just arrived at one of the sorts of levels where the market needs to see a bit more evidence of a medium- term outlook before it takes prices much beyond current levels."

12.02pm: A 2.1 million chunk of Echo Entertainment shares has just changed hands at $3.975 a share.

There has been talk that Genting Hong Kong is trying to increase it share through onmarket purchases. The company was also mooted to have been behind a botched share raid for an additional 5 per cent in the casinos operator.

Genting HK recently applied for permission to increase its stake from 4.2 per cent to 25 per cent.

11.48am: Some more comments from ANZ's Ivan Colhoun on the soft job ads numbers:

The trend in newspaper and internet job advertisements is a signal of a softening labour market.

Total advertisements have fallen for the past six months, and in more recent times this decline has been seen across all states.

When this last occurred, in the second half of 2011, Australian employment growth slowed.

Given the evidence of a mild contraction in labour hiring intentions across Australia, we expect the labour market to continue to soften, and for the unemployment rate to drift higher in coming months.

11.36am: The outlook for the jobs market has worsened, with a key gauge of future hiring intentions slumping for the sixth consecutive month and exposing weakness in the mining states of Western Australia and Queensland.

The ANZ Job ads index fell 2.8 per cent in September, accelerating a 2.3 per cent fall in August, putting the level of job ads 10.8 per cent below a year ago.

"Total advertisements have fallen for the past six months, and in more recent times this decline has been seen across all states," says ANZ head of Australian Economics and Property Research Ivan Colhoun.

Newspaper job ads fell 10 per cent in September in Western Australia, and 5.3 per cent in Queensland. In South Australia they fell 2.2 per cent. Newspaper ads fell 3.6 per cent in September, while internet ads fell 2.7 per cent in the month, ANZ said.

In New South Wales newspaper ads fell 5.9 per cent, while in Victoria they rose 0.6 per cent in September, while in Tasmania they rose 5 per cent.

11.32am: Shares in Seven West Media are up more than 5 per cent on speculation of a buyout by its largest shareholder.

RBS analysts said in a research note that Seven Group Holdings could acquire the 67 per cent of Seven West Media it does not already own at $1.50 per share or about $1 billion, most likely with a partner.

"We believe a joint privatisation (potentially with KKR) is more feasible," said RBS analyst Matthew Nicholas, referring to private equity firm KKR & Co which owns 6.9 per cent of Seven West Media after selling down its stake last year.

Seven West's shares have slumped 57 per cent this year, faring worse than its listed peer Ten Network, which is down 47 per cent, as advertising revenues have collapsed across the media sector, hitting profits.

Seven West Media went public last year through a merger with West Australian Newspapers. The group is 33 per cent owned by Seven Group Holdings, controlled by magnate Kerry Stokes.

11.18am: The CEO of Aquarius Platinum, Stuart Murray, has resigned. Its shares are down 4.7 per cent to 72.5 cents, the biggest slide since September 26. Its stocks were above $2.25 back in April.

11.14am: St George has moved rates lower - down 17 basis points. More to come.

11.05am: As stocks prepare move back toward positive territory, two of the three big miners remain lower. Rio Tinto is 15 cents weaker at $54.75, BHP Billiton has lost 6.5 cents to $33.255 but Fortescue Metals was up three cents to $3.64.

Among the banks, ANZ - which has yet to pass on last week’s interest rate cut to its customers - was up ten cents to $25.60, and Westpac was up eight cents to $25.96, National Australia Bank was up 4.5 cents at cent to $26.355, while CBA was down 7.5 cents at $56.775.

Bank of Queensland was down 15 cents, or 1.99 per cent, at $7.40, following on from heavy losses on Friday.

10.59am: IG Markets market strategist Stan Shamu said the Australian market’s negativity was because the positive US jobs data might mean the US Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing (QE) program might not go on for as long.

‘‘Everyone’s addicted to this QE morphine ... to drive sentiment. Everyone’s thinking: let’s get that instant gratification from a direct injection into the liquidity system,’’ he said.

‘‘We don’t really expect any sharp moves until ... the rest of Asia opens, particularly China, which was closed for holidays for the whole of last week.’’

10.55am: Aquila Resources' plan to build a major iron ore project in Western Australia's Pilbara region has suffered a setback, with cost estimates blowing out by $1.4 billion.

In a statement this morning, Aquila said the “West Pilbara Iron Ore Project” was now expected to cost $7.4 billion. Its shares have risen 0.4 per cent in early trade, or 1 cent, to $2.69.

The cost increase was primarily blamed upon a need to spend more to accommodate WA Government requirements linked to the proposed new port for the project at Anketell point. More here.

10.51am: A quick reminder that we have ANZ job ads for September out at 11.30am.

10.48am: Stock markets in Japan are closed today for a public holiday.

Mr Stevens has released a detailed memo outlining the bank's handling of a corruption scandal involving its currency printing subsidiaries, Note Printing Australia and Securency.

At a special meeting of federal parliament's economics committee in Canberra this morning, Mr Stevens said the RBA had been advised by its lawyers that it could not publicly disclose several important internal documents regarding its handling of corruption concerns, which first emerged in May 2007.

10.36am: Here's a question from reader Craig: "Where does one go to see iron ore prices?"

The iron ore price was flat at $US104.20 a metric tonne. It hasn't traded in over a week because of a week-long holiday in China. We'll have it high up in our reporting again from tomorrow.

10.30am: Of the big four banks, Westpac shares are trading higher today. They've added 0.12 per cent to $25.91. NAB shares are down 0.15 per cent, CBA shares are 0.18 per cent higher and ANZ shares are flat. ANZ is expected to announce its rate decision on Friday.

10.24am: Here's how the various sub indices on the ASX200 are performing:

Industrials: +0.7%

Health: +0.24%

Consumer staples: +0.23%

Telecoms: +0.14%

Consumer disc.: +0.09%

Materials: -0.31%

Energy: -0.27%

Financials: flat

10.21am: And here are some early sliders on the ASX200.

Imdex: -5.17%

Saracen Mineral Holdings: -4.55%

Resolute Mining: -3.69%

NRW Holdings: -2.72%

St Barbara: -2.64%

10.19am: Now for the early gainers on the ASX200 so far this morning.

QR National: +5.48%

Seven West Media Group: +2.86%

Bathurst Resources: 2.35%

Atlas Iron: +2.10%

FKP Property Group: +2.00%

10.13am: QR National is an early winner - up 4.3 per cent after the Queensland government announced it was selling $1 billion of shares via a selective buyback. More here.

10.09am: In early trade, the All Ordinaries index is 1.5 points lower, or 0.0 per cent, to 4512, while the benchmark S&P/ASX200 is 2.6 points lower, or 0.1 per cent, to 4491.8.

9.53am: In local corporate news this morning, the Queensland government will sell off its remaining $1.5 billion stake in QR National, saying it has got taxpayers’ interests at heart.

The government says the deal involves the sale of $1 billion of shares via a selective buyback to QR National and a $500 million placement to a small number of cornerstone investors. More here.

9.49am: Here are some recent analyst rating changes:

Bank of Queensland cut to 'neutral' at Credit Suisse

Bank of Queensland raised to 'neutral' at JPMorgan

Dexus Property Group raised to 'hold' from 'sell' at Deutsche Bank

Cardno raised to 'buy' from 'hold' RBS

Breville Group cut to 'neutral' at Goldman Sachs

9.47am: And here's a few key items that'll be making news offshore this week:

Monday: China HSBC services PMI for September

Tuesday: US NFIB small business optimism index

Wednesday: US Beige Book survey, US wholesale trade for August, US Treasury monthly budget report for September

Thursday: US jobless claim

Friday: US producer price index for September, US consumer sentiment for October 2012

9.44am: Jobs numbers are in focus this week, with ANZ jobs ads out today about 11.30am and the Australian Bureau of Statistics due to publish the September labour force report on Thursday. Economists expect the Australian economy to have added 5000 jobs in the month, and forecast the unemployment rate to rise to 5.3 per cent from 5.1 per cent in August.

9.36am: Australian dollar to a three-month low, despite the release of better than expected US jobs data. The currency was trading at $US1.0161 this morning, just shy of its low point of $US1.0152 and down from $US1.0251 on Friday.

Westpac chief currency strategist Robert Rennie said the dollar has fallen dramatically on a combination of positive employment news from the US and worries about Australia’s terms of trade, following the surprise blow-out in Australia’s trade balance last week.

‘‘You get a rising sense that the US economy is the one economy out there that is showing some signs of improvement in what is a very difficult outlook for the global economy,’’ said Mr Rennie.

So, where’s it headed? ANZ chief currency strategist Andrew Salter said the decline of the dollar was likely to test parity over the next few weeks.

‘‘With the labour force survey on Thursday, we’re looking for a rise in the unemployment rate from 5.1 to 5.3,’’ he said.

"We expect that that will add weight to the case that Australia is in transition to a period of more moderate activity and we expect that that should weigh on the currency. It will be consistent with us moving towards parity."

9.32am: Aussie shares are gunning for their eighth straight day of gains today, which, if achieved, would be the longest winning streak since early March, 2010. The early leads are flat, however, after major indices on Wall Street eased on Friday despite a strong report on the US jobs market. The dollar has also slumped to a three month low - more on that shortly.

For a comprehensive look at this morning’s business news, check today’s need2know. Here are this morning’s key market links:

9.30am: Hi everyone. Hope you had a relaxing weekend. Welcome to the Markets Live blog for Monday.

Contributors: Thomas Hunter, Peter Litras, Jens Meyer

This blog is not intended as investment advice

BusinessDay with agencies

26 comments

Where does one go to see iron ore prices?

ED: The iron ore price was flat at $US104.20 a metric tonne. It hasn't traded in over a week because of a week long holiday in China. We'll have it high up in our reporting again from tomorrow.

Commenter

craig

Date and time

October 08, 2012, 10:07AM

http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/MBIO62DA:IND

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

October 08, 2012, 11:40AM

I'm curious about Glen Steven's and his potential role @ the BoE. I'll just pose this one question/point: considering how messed up the finances are in Britain, how LIBOR was grossly manipulated etc., would anyone in the right mind consider jumping on the BoE grenade? No matter how much money was thrown at them?I would assume the gov'nor isn't short a penny, so why would he want to put his head in the noose and be the lucky chap to clean up the mess left behind by successive governments mismanagement of their budgets and banks that do whatever they want?? I mean he'd be mad to take it??? Any thoughts boys and girls?

Commenter

Bye Bye Fiat Money

Date and time

October 08, 2012, 10:40AM

No one pulls " The Lever " like our boy Glen.

Commenter

The Oracle

Location

Oberon

Date and time

October 08, 2012, 12:37PM

First he has to explain his way out of the bribery scandal. Doubt if he can.

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

October 08, 2012, 1:11PM

BoE? Guess it's one for the CV, some sort of crazy act of selfless bravery. But if he succeeded in implementing a change in the current banking culture, he could come out of it well.

Commenter

Old rope

Location

Nowhere

Date and time

October 08, 2012, 4:24PM

Econorat you still haven't explained why the terms of trade have been negative for 8 months in a row or why you posted a document that was 18 months old to say it was at record levels.

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

October 08, 2012, 11:37AM

They shut the comments sction down before I could reply, that's why.I didn't say it would go positive Alan, I said it would recover from the dip produced by the cyclones and the floods, which it has.You were forecasting the death of the Australian economy a year ago. It just hasn't happened, has it Alan?Try this one. see where the 'blip' area is in 2011? That's when the floods hit QLD and Vic.http://www.rba.gov.au/publications/smp/2012/feb/graphs/graph-3.21.html

Commenter

Econorat

Location

Sydney

Date and time

October 08, 2012, 3:43PM

"In recent months, a string of companies have announced mass lay-offs and project cancellations, including petroleum refiner Caltex which chopped up to 630 jobs in Sydney, iron ore miner Fortescue cut 1000 jobs as a result of the slowdown in demand for the commodity. BHP Billiton and Xstrata Coal cut a combined 900 jobs last month."

Oh dear, what will that do to house prices? Will Perth sink back into the sand?

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

October 08, 2012, 12:09PM

Here's another one for you Alan,http://www.rba.gov.au/publications/smp/2012/feb/graphs/graph-1.3.htmlYou'll see China's gdp is returning back to pre-2003 levels, where it should be.You'll see it crashed in 08/09 to 4%, which in China is close to being in recession as you would want to get and then recovered quickly to 12% with their pump priming for GFC and now it is slowly returning back to the 8% region.